Quick summary: The highlights at a glance

ForestPack 9.3.3 delivers several small but highly practical improvements that were guided by user feedback:

• Automatic texture relinking using your library maps folder so materials reconnect reliably. 
• Install libraries anywhere (local or network drives) and a renamed shared cache to avoid repeated downloads across a team. 
• Smarter ForestSet updates: Manual or optional auto-update on layer changes plus contextual tools for faster selection in complex scenes. 
• A set of UI and stability fixes that polish layer, preset, and LOD workflows. 

ForestPack 9.3.3 is available to users with an active Maintenance Plan. Log in to your User Panel, go to My Products to download or renew.

Why this update matters: Production benefits (practical, short)

If you manage vegetation at scale or collaborate across studios, these changes reduce friction and cutting-edge headaches:

• Fewer missing textures after moving scenes or sharing libraries. The new relink feature maps texture paths to the library maps folder automatically, helping artists avoid manual relinks and broken materials.
• Easier team library management. Point built-in libraries to any folder or shared network drive so teams use a single source of truth and avoid repeated downloads. The Packages Cache keeps downloads centralized.
• Faster iteration on complex scenes. ForestSet’s manual/optional auto-update and new contextual menus speed up selecting source areas and dependencies in dense setups. Turn auto-update on only when you need it to keep heavy scenes responsive.

Deep dive feature details & recommended workflows

1. Automatic texture relinking. Set it and forget it

What changed: ForestPack can now relink textures directly to the maps folder inside your chosen library path. This mapping follows your library’s folder structure and respects UNC paths for network pipelines.

How to use it (recommended):

1. Go to Library → Preferences in the ForestPack browser.
2. Enable Relink textures to library maps folder.
3. For networked storage, confirm your 3ds Max UNC path settings so distributed renders pick up assets consistently.

Benefit: A huge win for studios that move scenes between machines, render farms, or share assets via versioned libraries.

2. Install libraries anywhere, local or shared network

What changed: You can now point the built-in Assets folder to any local path or shared network location. The Network shared folder label was renamed Packages Cache to better reflect its role as a shared download cache. Cancelling library installs is more robust. 

Workflow tip: Set Packages Cache on a fast shared server and map each artist’s library to that server. It reduces bandwidth, prevents redundant downloads, and makes library updates atomic.

3. ForestSet improvements, control that scales

What changed: ForestSet now supports manual refresh or automatic updates when layers change (auto-update is off by default). New right-click/contextual selection options let you quickly select geometries, dependencies, and source areas inside a ForestSet.

When to enable auto-update: Turn it on for iterative art sessions where you need immediate feedback; keep it off for large production renders to preserve interactivity.

4. Small but meaningful quality-of-life fixes

A batch of UI and stability fixes improves day-to-day work: clearer lock messages for Areas, ForestIvy texture tiling fixes, persistent ForestSet item list sizing, resizable ForestLOD lists, proper extension handling when importing portable formats, and saved library preferences. These make routine tasks less error-prone.

Ready to get the update?

ForestPack 9.3.3 is available now for users with an active Maintenance Plan. Log in to your User Panel → My Products to download. If your Maintenance Plan expired, you can renew it to regain access to the latest versions, libraries, and support. 

Download ForestPack 9.3.3 or Renew Maintenance in your User Panel today and follow our quick setup guide above to enable automatic texture relinking and point your libraries to a shared Packages Cache for faster, more reliable team workflows.